Slavery in Angola
Encyclopedia
Slavery in Angola existed since early times. Several peoples and tribes from current-day Angola
, like the Imbangala
and the Mbundu
, were active slave traders for centuries (see African slave trade
). Starting in the 16th century, Kingdom of Portugal
's explorers founded settlements, trade posts and forts in Angola, and their major trading activities included a major role in the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade
. Slave trafficking was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
conquered the Mbundu
people of Angola, incorporating the local economy into the Atlantic slave trade. In 1610, Friar Luís Brandão, the head of Portuguese-run Luanda
Jesuit college
, wrote to a Jesuit who questioned the legality of the enslavement of native Angolans, saying, "We have been here ourselves for forty years and there have been many learned men here and in the province of Brazil who never have considered the trade illicit." He further stated that only a small number of Natives may have been enslaved illegally, and that the Portuguese at least converted them to Christianity
. Angola exported slaves at a rate of 10,000 per year in 1612. The Portuguese built a new port in Benguela
in 1616 to expand Portugal
's access to Angolan slaves. The Vergulde Valck, Dutch slave-traders, bought 675 of the 1,000 slaves sold in Angola in 1660.
was important in Portuguese Angola; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the ports of Luanda
and Benguela
. This slave trade also involved local black merchants and warriors who profited from the trade. In the 17th century, the Imbangala
became the main rivals of the Mbundu
in supplying slaves to the Luanda
market. In the 1750s the Portuguese sold 5,000 to 10,000 slaves annually, devastating the Mbundu economy and population. The Portuguese gave guns to Imbangala
soldiers in return for slaves. Armed with superior weapons, Imbangala soldiers captured and sold natives on a far larger scale as every new slave translated increased into a better-armed force of aggressors. A combined force of Portuguese and Imbangala soldiers attacked and conquered the Kingdom of Ndongo from 1618 to 1619, laying siege to the Ndongo capital of Kabasa. The Portuguese sold thousands of Kabasa residents with 36 ships leaving the port of Luanda
in 1619, setting a new record, destined for slave plantations abroad. In the 18th century, war between the Portuguese, other European powers and several African tribes, gradually gave way to trade
. The great trade routes and the agreements that made them possible were the driving force for activities between the different areas; warlike tribal states become states ready to produce and to sell. In the Planalto (the high plains), the most important states were those of Bié and Bailundo, the latter being noted for its production of foodstuffs and rubber. The colonial power, Portugal, becoming ever richer and more powerful, would not tolerate the growth of these neighbouring states and subjugated them one by one, so that by the beginning of this century the Portuguese had complete control over the entire area. From 1764 onwards, there was a gradual change from a slave-based society to one based on production for domestic consumption, and later for export. After the independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1822, the institution of slavery
in Portugal's overseas possessions was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
first established a de jure
system of forced labour throughout its colonies in 1899, but the Portuguese government did not implement the system in Angola until 1911 and abolished it in 1913. Republicans overthrew King Manuel II
in a coup d'état
in October 1910. Workers in Moçâmedes
, among other cities in Angola, campaigned for abolition and manumission. In some areas forced labourers declared strikes
, hoping the economic slowdown would force political changes. Carvalhal Correia Henriques, the new governor of Moçâmedes, supported their claims and directed labor complaints his way. The Portuguese First Republic
, the new state, abolished forced labour again, but the employers whose businesses depended on forced labour used their political clout to lobby the Portuguese government to fire Henriques. The Portuguese government legalized forced labour in Angola again in 1911, dismissed Henriques in January 1912, and abolished the practice again in 1913.
In 1926, the 28th May 1926 coup d'état
empowered António de Oliveira Salazar
in Portugal
. Later that year, Salazar reestablished forced labour, ordering colonial authorities to force nearly all adult, male, ethnic minorities in Portugal's African colonies to work. The government told workers that they would only have to work for six months of every year. In practice, this obligation was a life sentence of forced labor. Civil rights
for natives, no longer treated as natural law
, had to be "earned" on a case by case basis under the designation of assimilade. Less than 1% of the native population ever achieved this designation. By 1947, 40% of workers died each year with a 60% infant mortality
rate.
By 1940 the white population in Angola had risen to forty thousand, 2% of the population. Most of these émigrés, illiterate and landless, took the best farming land, regardless of availability, without compensating existing landowners. The authorities expelled natives, forcing them to harvest maize, coffee, and beans. Natives could "volunteer" to work on the plantations, voluntários, or face conscription
, working for $1.50 per month as contratados. This system of forced labour prompted 500,000 Angolans to flee, creating a labor shortage, which in turn created the need for more workers for the colonial economy. By 1947, 40% of the forced labourers died each year with a 60% infant mortality
rate in the territory (according to The World Factbook
's 2007 estimates, infant mortality rate (deaths/1,000 live births) in modern-day Angola was 184.44 - the worst result among all countries in the world). Historian Basil Davidson visited Angola in 1954 and found 30% of all adult males working in these conditions; "there was probably more coercion than ever before." Marcelo Caetano
, Portugal's Minister of the Colonies, recognized the inherent flaws in the system, which he described as using natives "like pieces of equipment without any concern for their yearning, interests, or desires". Parliament
held a closed session in 1947 to discuss the deteriorating situation. Henrique Galvão
, Angolan deputy to the Portuguese National Assembly
, read his "Report on Native Problems in the Portuguese Colonies". Galvão condemned the "shameful outrages" he had uncovered, the forced labour of "women, of children, of the sick, [and] of decrepit old men." He concluded that in Angola, "only the dead are really exempt from forced labor." The government's control over the natives eliminated the worker-employer's incentive to keep his employees alive because, unlike in other colonial societies, the state replaced deceased workers without directly charging the employeer. The Portuguese Government refuted the report and arrested Galvão in 1952. In 1961, Galvão would be involved in the hijacking of a Portuguese luxury cruise liner
.
, ended in a
blood bath.
Native protesters attacked São Paulo fortress, the largest prison and military establishment in Luanda
, trying to free the prisoners and killing seven policemen. The Portuguese authorities killed forty attackers before gangs of white Angolans committed random acts of violence against the ethnic majority.
Portuguese authorities killed 49 people on February 5. On February 10, Portuguese authorities suppressed another unsuccessful attempt at freeing the prisoners. Bakongo farmers and coffee-plantation workers revolted on March 15, near Baixa de Cassanje, killing white Angolans and black workers, burning plantations, bridges, government facilities, and police stations, and destroying barges and ferries. The Portuguese Air Force
responded by bombing a 200 miles (321.9 km) area with napalm
killing 20,000 people, including 750 white Angolans, within the first six months of 1961.
The Portuguese Army and Air Force put down the uprising and blacked out the incident to the press. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) said the Portuguese military killed ten thousand people in the massacre. Conservative estimates are around 400 casualties. These events are considered the beginning of the Portuguese Colonial War
(1961-1974).
in Lisbon
, Angola was offered independence from Portugal
. After independence in 1975, during the Angolan Civil War
(1975-2002), both the largest opposition group, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA
), and the government ruled by the MPLA, used child soldiers in the civil war. Children's rights groups have estimated that as many as 11,000 children were involved in the last years of the fighting only. Some children received weapons and arms training and fought in the conflict. Many others acted as porters, cooks, spies and laborers. In 2003, one year after the conflict ended in mainland Angola, some UNITA soldiers who were 18 or older were incorporated into the national army and police. Others were demobilized in a national program and received needed assistance. But child soldiers, many of whom performed the same duties as adults, were denied these benefits.
In current day Angola, high levels of child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, pornography, forced labor, sexual slavery, and other forms of exploitation are reported, in part due to the civil war
-caused break down of social structures and traditional security mechanisms active before independence. Angola is a source country for significant number of men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Children have been trafficked internally and also to Namibia
and South Africa
for the purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic and commercial labor. The Government of Angola does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
At present, it is estimated that over one million primary school age children are out of school, the majority of them being girls. There is a strong correlation between women’s education and the increased vulnerability of both mothers and children to a range of life-threatening conditions, including forced labour and prostitution.
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
, like the Imbangala
Imbangala
The Imbangala or Mbangala were 17th century groups of Angolan warriors and marauders who founded the kingdom of Kasanje.-Origins of the Imbangala:...
and the Mbundu
Mbundu
The Northern Mbundu or Ambundu are a people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and mostly also the official language of the country, Portuguese...
, were active slave traders for centuries (see African slave trade
African slave trade
Systems of servitude and slavery were common in many parts of Africa, as they were in much of the ancient world. In some African societies, the enslaved people were also indentured servants and fully integrated; in others, they were treated much worse...
). Starting in the 16th century, Kingdom of Portugal
Kingdom of Portugal
The Kingdom of Portugal was Portugal's general designation under the monarchy. The kingdom was located in the west of the Iberian Peninsula, Europe and existed from 1139 to 1910...
's explorers founded settlements, trade posts and forts in Angola, and their major trading activities included a major role in the beginnings of the Atlantic slave trade
Atlantic slave trade
The Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
. Slave trafficking was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
Conquest
The Portuguese EmpirePortuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
conquered the Mbundu
Mbundu
The Northern Mbundu or Ambundu are a people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and mostly also the official language of the country, Portuguese...
people of Angola, incorporating the local economy into the Atlantic slave trade. In 1610, Friar Luís Brandão, the head of Portuguese-run Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
Jesuit college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
, wrote to a Jesuit who questioned the legality of the enslavement of native Angolans, saying, "We have been here ourselves for forty years and there have been many learned men here and in the province of Brazil who never have considered the trade illicit." He further stated that only a small number of Natives may have been enslaved illegally, and that the Portuguese at least converted them to Christianity
Christianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
. Angola exported slaves at a rate of 10,000 per year in 1612. The Portuguese built a new port in Benguela
Benguela
Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name, in 12° 33’ S., 13° 25’ E...
in 1616 to expand Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
's access to Angolan slaves. The Vergulde Valck, Dutch slave-traders, bought 675 of the 1,000 slaves sold in Angola in 1660.
Slavery
For several decades, slave trade with the Portuguese colony of BrazilColonial Brazil
In the history of Brazil, Colonial Brazil, officially the Viceroyalty of Brazil comprises the period from 1500, with the arrival of the Portuguese, until 1815, when Brazil was elevated to kingdom alongside Portugal as the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves.During the over 300 years...
was important in Portuguese Angola; Brazilian ships were the most numerous in the ports of Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
and Benguela
Benguela
Benguela is a city in western Angola, south of Luanda, and capital of Benguela Province. It lies on a bay of the same name, in 12° 33’ S., 13° 25’ E...
. This slave trade also involved local black merchants and warriors who profited from the trade. In the 17th century, the Imbangala
Imbangala
The Imbangala or Mbangala were 17th century groups of Angolan warriors and marauders who founded the kingdom of Kasanje.-Origins of the Imbangala:...
became the main rivals of the Mbundu
Mbundu
The Northern Mbundu or Ambundu are a people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and mostly also the official language of the country, Portuguese...
in supplying slaves to the Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
market. In the 1750s the Portuguese sold 5,000 to 10,000 slaves annually, devastating the Mbundu economy and population. The Portuguese gave guns to Imbangala
Imbangala
The Imbangala or Mbangala were 17th century groups of Angolan warriors and marauders who founded the kingdom of Kasanje.-Origins of the Imbangala:...
soldiers in return for slaves. Armed with superior weapons, Imbangala soldiers captured and sold natives on a far larger scale as every new slave translated increased into a better-armed force of aggressors. A combined force of Portuguese and Imbangala soldiers attacked and conquered the Kingdom of Ndongo from 1618 to 1619, laying siege to the Ndongo capital of Kabasa. The Portuguese sold thousands of Kabasa residents with 36 ships leaving the port of Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
in 1619, setting a new record, destined for slave plantations abroad. In the 18th century, war between the Portuguese, other European powers and several African tribes, gradually gave way to trade
Trade
Trade is the transfer of ownership of goods and services from one person or entity to another. Trade is sometimes loosely called commerce or financial transaction or barter. A network that allows trade is called a market. The original form of trade was barter, the direct exchange of goods and...
. The great trade routes and the agreements that made them possible were the driving force for activities between the different areas; warlike tribal states become states ready to produce and to sell. In the Planalto (the high plains), the most important states were those of Bié and Bailundo, the latter being noted for its production of foodstuffs and rubber. The colonial power, Portugal, becoming ever richer and more powerful, would not tolerate the growth of these neighbouring states and subjugated them one by one, so that by the beginning of this century the Portuguese had complete control over the entire area. From 1764 onwards, there was a gradual change from a slave-based society to one based on production for domestic consumption, and later for export. After the independence of Brazil from Portugal in 1822, the institution of slavery
Slavery
Slavery is a system under which people are treated as property to be bought and sold, and are forced to work. Slaves can be held against their will from the time of their capture, purchase or birth, and deprived of the right to leave, to refuse to work, or to demand compensation...
in Portugal's overseas possessions was abolished in 1836 by the Portuguese authorities.
Forced labour
The Portuguese EmpirePortuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
first established a de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
system of forced labour throughout its colonies in 1899, but the Portuguese government did not implement the system in Angola until 1911 and abolished it in 1913. Republicans overthrew King Manuel II
Manuel II of Portugal
Manuel II , named Manuel Maria Filipe Carlos Amélio Luís Miguel Rafael Gabriel Gonzaga Francisco de Assis Eugénio de Bragança Orleães Sabóia e Saxe-Coburgo-Gotha — , was the last King of Portugal from 1908 to 1910, ascending the throne after the assassination of his father and elder brother Manuel...
in a coup d'état
5 October 1910 revolution
The revolution of 1910 was a republican coup d'état that occurred in Portugal on 5 October 1910, which deposed King Manuel II and established the Portuguese First Republic....
in October 1910. Workers in Moçâmedes
Namibe
Namibe is the capital city of Namibe Province in Angola. It is a coastal desert city located in southwestern Angola and was founded in 1840 by the Portuguese rulers of the territory. The city's current population is 132,900...
, among other cities in Angola, campaigned for abolition and manumission. In some areas forced labourers declared strikes
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
, hoping the economic slowdown would force political changes. Carvalhal Correia Henriques, the new governor of Moçâmedes, supported their claims and directed labor complaints his way. The Portuguese First Republic
Portuguese First Republic
The Portuguese First Republic spans a complex 16 year period in the history of Portugal, between the end of the period of constitutional monarchy marked by the 5 October 1910 revolution and the 28 May coup d'état of 1926...
, the new state, abolished forced labour again, but the employers whose businesses depended on forced labour used their political clout to lobby the Portuguese government to fire Henriques. The Portuguese government legalized forced labour in Angola again in 1911, dismissed Henriques in January 1912, and abolished the practice again in 1913.
In 1926, the 28th May 1926 coup d'état
28th May 1926 coup d'état
The 28 May 1926 coup d'état, sometimes called 28 May Revolution or, during the period of Estado Novo , National Revolution , was a military action that put an end to the unstable Portuguese First Republic and initiated the Ditadura Nacional , later, renamed the Estado Novo, an authoritarian...
empowered António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar
António de Oliveira Salazar, GColIH, GCTE, GCSE served as the Prime Minister of Portugal from 1932 to 1968. He also served as acting President of the Republic briefly in 1951. He founded and led the Estado Novo , the authoritarian, right-wing government that presided over and controlled Portugal...
in Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. Later that year, Salazar reestablished forced labour, ordering colonial authorities to force nearly all adult, male, ethnic minorities in Portugal's African colonies to work. The government told workers that they would only have to work for six months of every year. In practice, this obligation was a life sentence of forced labor. Civil rights
Civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from unwarranted infringement by governments and private organizations, and ensure one's ability to participate in the civil and political life of the state without discrimination or repression.Civil rights include...
for natives, no longer treated as natural law
Natural law
Natural law, or the law of nature , is any system of law which is purportedly determined by nature, and thus universal. Classically, natural law refers to the use of reason to analyze human nature and deduce binding rules of moral behavior. Natural law is contrasted with the positive law Natural...
, had to be "earned" on a case by case basis under the designation of assimilade. Less than 1% of the native population ever achieved this designation. By 1947, 40% of workers died each year with a 60% infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
rate.
By 1940 the white population in Angola had risen to forty thousand, 2% of the population. Most of these émigrés, illiterate and landless, took the best farming land, regardless of availability, without compensating existing landowners. The authorities expelled natives, forcing them to harvest maize, coffee, and beans. Natives could "volunteer" to work on the plantations, voluntários, or face conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
, working for $1.50 per month as contratados. This system of forced labour prompted 500,000 Angolans to flee, creating a labor shortage, which in turn created the need for more workers for the colonial economy. By 1947, 40% of the forced labourers died each year with a 60% infant mortality
Infant mortality
Infant mortality is defined as the number of infant deaths per 1000 live births. Traditionally, the most common cause worldwide was dehydration from diarrhea. However, the spreading information about Oral Re-hydration Solution to mothers around the world has decreased the rate of children dying...
rate in the territory (according to The World Factbook
The World Factbook
The World Factbook is a reference resource produced by the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States with almanac-style information about the countries of the world. The official paper copy version is available from the National Technical Information Service and the Government Printing Office...
's 2007 estimates, infant mortality rate (deaths/1,000 live births) in modern-day Angola was 184.44 - the worst result among all countries in the world). Historian Basil Davidson visited Angola in 1954 and found 30% of all adult males working in these conditions; "there was probably more coercion than ever before." Marcelo Caetano
Marcelo Caetano
Marcelo José das Neves Alves Caetano, GCTE, GCC, also spelled Marcello Caetano , was a Portuguese politician and scholar, who was the last prime minister of the Estado Novo regime, from 1968 until his overthrow in the Carnation Revolution of 1974....
, Portugal's Minister of the Colonies, recognized the inherent flaws in the system, which he described as using natives "like pieces of equipment without any concern for their yearning, interests, or desires". Parliament
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
held a closed session in 1947 to discuss the deteriorating situation. Henrique Galvão
Henrique Galvão
Henrique Galvão was a Portuguese military officer, writer and politician. He was initially a supporter but later become one of the strongest opponents of the Portuguese fascist regimen, the Estado Novo....
, Angolan deputy to the Portuguese National Assembly
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
, read his "Report on Native Problems in the Portuguese Colonies". Galvão condemned the "shameful outrages" he had uncovered, the forced labour of "women, of children, of the sick, [and] of decrepit old men." He concluded that in Angola, "only the dead are really exempt from forced labor." The government's control over the natives eliminated the worker-employer's incentive to keep his employees alive because, unlike in other colonial societies, the state replaced deceased workers without directly charging the employeer. The Portuguese Government refuted the report and arrested Galvão in 1952. In 1961, Galvão would be involved in the hijacking of a Portuguese luxury cruise liner
Santa Maria hijacking
Contrary to popular belief, the Santa Maria hijacking is not "piracy" because it does not fit the international definition of piracy involving an attack of one vessel on another for private ends...
.
Baixa de Cassanje revolt
Workers employed by Cotonang, a Portuguese-Belgian cotton plantation company, revolted on January 3, calling on the Portuguese to improve their working rights and leave Angola. The revolt, commonly considered the first battle of the Angolan War of IndependenceAngolan War of Independence
The Angolan War of Independence began as an uprising against forced cotton cultivation, and became a multi-faction struggle for control of Portugal's Overseas Province of Angola with three nationalist movements and a separatist movement...
, ended in a
blood bath.
Native protesters attacked São Paulo fortress, the largest prison and military establishment in Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, trying to free the prisoners and killing seven policemen. The Portuguese authorities killed forty attackers before gangs of white Angolans committed random acts of violence against the ethnic majority.
Portuguese authorities killed 49 people on February 5. On February 10, Portuguese authorities suppressed another unsuccessful attempt at freeing the prisoners. Bakongo farmers and coffee-plantation workers revolted on March 15, near Baixa de Cassanje, killing white Angolans and black workers, burning plantations, bridges, government facilities, and police stations, and destroying barges and ferries. The Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
The Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
responded by bombing a 200 miles (321.9 km) area with napalm
Napalm
Napalm is a thickening/gelling agent generally mixed with gasoline or a similar fuel for use in an incendiary device, primarily as an anti-personnel weapon...
killing 20,000 people, including 750 white Angolans, within the first six months of 1961.
The Portuguese Army and Air Force put down the uprising and blacked out the incident to the press. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) said the Portuguese military killed ten thousand people in the massacre. Conservative estimates are around 400 casualties. These events are considered the beginning of the Portuguese Colonial War
Portuguese Colonial War
The Portuguese Colonial War , also known in Portugal as the Overseas War or in the former colonies as the War of liberation , was fought between Portugal's military and the emerging nationalist movements in Portugal's African colonies between 1961 and 1974, when the Portuguese regime was...
(1961-1974).
After independence from Portugal
After the April 1974 Carnation RevolutionCarnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
, Angola was offered independence from Portugal
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
. After independence in 1975, during the Angolan Civil War
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
(1975-2002), both the largest opposition group, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA
UNITA
The National Union for the Total Independence of Angola is the second-largest political party in Angola. Founded in 1966, UNITA fought with the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola in the Angolan War for Independence and then against the MPLA in the ensuing civil war .The war was one...
), and the government ruled by the MPLA, used child soldiers in the civil war. Children's rights groups have estimated that as many as 11,000 children were involved in the last years of the fighting only. Some children received weapons and arms training and fought in the conflict. Many others acted as porters, cooks, spies and laborers. In 2003, one year after the conflict ended in mainland Angola, some UNITA soldiers who were 18 or older were incorporated into the national army and police. Others were demobilized in a national program and received needed assistance. But child soldiers, many of whom performed the same duties as adults, were denied these benefits.
In current day Angola, high levels of child trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation, pornography, forced labor, sexual slavery, and other forms of exploitation are reported, in part due to the civil war
Angolan Civil War
The Angolan Civil War was a major civil conflict in the Southern African state of Angola, beginning in 1975 and continuing, with some interludes, until 2002. The war began immediately after Angola became independent from Portugal in November 1975. Prior to this, a decolonisation conflict had taken...
-caused break down of social structures and traditional security mechanisms active before independence. Angola is a source country for significant number of men, women and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor or sexual exploitation. Children have been trafficked internally and also to Namibia
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia , is a country in southern Africa whose western border is the Atlantic Ocean. It shares land borders with Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south and east. It gained independence from South Africa on 21 March...
and South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
for the purposes of sexual exploitation and domestic and commercial labor. The Government of Angola does not fully comply with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking.
At present, it is estimated that over one million primary school age children are out of school, the majority of them being girls. There is a strong correlation between women’s education and the increased vulnerability of both mothers and children to a range of life-threatening conditions, including forced labour and prostitution.
See also
- Atlantic slave tradeAtlantic slave tradeThe Atlantic slave trade, also known as the trans-atlantic slave trade, refers to the trade in slaves that took place across the Atlantic ocean from the sixteenth through to the nineteenth centuries...
- History of AngolaHistory of AngolaAngola is a country in southwestern Africa. Its name derives from the Kimbundu word for king, 'N'gola'. It was first settled by Bushmen hunter-gatherer societies before the northern domains came under the rule of Bantu states such as Kongo and Ndongo. From the 15th century Portuguese colonists...
- ImbangalaImbangalaThe Imbangala or Mbangala were 17th century groups of Angolan warriors and marauders who founded the kingdom of Kasanje.-Origins of the Imbangala:...
- MbunduMbunduThe Northern Mbundu or Ambundu are a people living in Angola's North-West, North of the river Kwanza. The Ambundu speak Kimbundu, and mostly also the official language of the country, Portuguese...
- Slavery in MauritaniaSlavery in MauritaniaSlavery in Mauritania is an entrenched phenomenon the national government has repeatedly tried to abolish, banning the practice in 1905, 1981, and August 2007...
- Slavery in SudanSlavery in SudanSlavery in Sudan began in ancient times, and has continued to the present day. During the Arab slave trade, many Black-Sudanese were purchased as slaves and brought for work in the Middle East....